Practice golf club



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PRACTICE GOLF CLUB Filed Jan. 11, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l &

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PRACTICE GOLF CLUB Filed Jan. 11, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. MAM/wL. Jon E5.

ATTOR'NEY Patented May 9, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PRACTICE GOLFCLUB William L. Jones, Los Angeles, Calif. Application January 11, 1937,Serial No. 119,997

10 Claims.

My invention relates to golf clubs, and particularly to golf .clubs forpractice of strokes, and the like.

One of the important objects of this invention is to provide a golf clubof this class, whereby, when a golf ball is struck properly, the ballwill be picked up and retained by the club; and fur ther to provide aclub of this class which will hold the ball thus struck until manuallyreleased.

Another object of this invention is to provide a golf club of this classwhich simulates the conventional club in appearance, but one which isnot adapted to nor capable of catapulting the ball any appreciabledistance even when not struck squarely so asto pick up the ball.

A further object of this invention is to provide novel means whereby thepicked up and retained ball may be easily manually released.

Another object is to provide a simple and novel construction embodyingthe above features and functional advantages.

With these and other objects in view, as will appear hereinafter, I havedevised a practice golf club having certain novel features ofconstruction, combination, and arrangement of parts and portions, aswill be hereinafter described in detail and particularly set forth inthe appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawlugsand -to the characters of reference thereon which form a part of thisapplication, in which:

Fig.1 is a fragmentary side elevational View of a golf club embodying myinvention in one form;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, partly in plan, taken at 2-4 ofFig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational section taken at 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary top View of my golf club in a slightly modifiedform, a portion being broken away to facilitate the illustration;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken through 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation of the head in another slightlymodified form;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section in plan taken at 1-1 of Fig. 6; and,

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation, similar to Fig. 6, showinganother slightly modified form of construction of my golf club.

The club shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, consists essentially of a head A,shaft B, and a handle C. The head comprises a body I, bottom and topplates 2 and 3 respectively, trap doors 4 and 5, springs 6, cables I,and pulleys 8, 9, and [0.

The golf club is preferably in the form of a driver. The head body I isin the form of a driver head and is provided with a deep horizontalrecess l open toward the face of the head. The opening is large enoughto receive freely a golf ball D and pocket the same at the rear of thehead body. This head body may be made 5 of metal to compensate for theloss of weight by reason of the recess. The head may be cast of softmetal and provided at the bottom and top with the harder metal plates 2and 3 respectively. At the face of the head body are the trap 10 doors 4and 5. These doors are preferably identical and are metal plates whichare pivoted intermediate their lateral edges on vertical axes back ofthe face of the body and inwardly from the lateral walls forming therecess. When the doors are closed the free inner edges substantiallytouch each other. The portions of the door plates outwardly from thepivotal axes engage the faces of the head and form stops for the doors.The recess is sufllciently large as to receive the doorsand allow theball freely to enter to the rear of the recess. The doors are held inthe closed position shown, by springs 6 positioned around the pivot pinsfor the doors.

When a ball has been struck and lodged in the recess, it may be removedmanually by pulling certain cables 1. In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, one cable 1'is secured to the door 4 and extends around the pulley 8 located aboveand at thefar side of the recess, and a cable 7 is secured to the door 5and extends around the pulley 9 located at the opposite or near side ofthe recess. These cables I and 1" may be then fastened together, andextend around the pulley Ii], through the hollow shank l of the head,and thence through the interior B of the hollow shaft B.

In the handle C of the club, or at the upper portion of the shaft, is arecess C which has a longitudinal opening at one side. Over this openingis a removable long cover II which is in the form of a plate leverpivoted at its lower end on the handle or shaft at the lower end of therecess. This lever may be pulled outwardly by the thumb nail. At theupper end of the recess is a pulley l2. The cable 7, which extends intothe hollow shaft, extends around the pulley l2 and is secured at itsfree end to the lever. As this cover or lever is opened the cable 1opens. or draws the doors 4 and 5 inwardly and permits a ball in therecess to be removed. The springs 6 normally tend to close the cover orlever.

If it is desired to provide auxiliary means for closing, or keepingclosed, the lever ll, particularly when a ball is struck and the doors 4and 5 thereby opened, a tension spring [5 may be provided in the shaft.And to keep the cables from becoming tangled when slack, as when a ballis struck and the doors 4 and 5 are opened, a tension spring I! may alsobe provided in the shaft. The latter spring has less tension than thesprings 6 so as not to open the spring doors 4 and 5. These springs l6and Il may be placed around the cable I, and secured at their adjacentends, in any suitable manner, to the shaft B. The opposite ends of thesprings may be attached to the cable. Thus the cable remains taut at alltimes.

In Figs. 4 and 5, I have provided a thumb lever 2! which is pivotallymounted at the back of the head body and extends upwardly and forwardlytherefrom. The free end portion of the lever 2| is connected by cables22 and 23 to the doors 4 and 5. These cables may extend around pulleys24. Thus, when the lever is pulled outwardly, the doors 4 and 5 areopened, as referred to above.

In the structure, shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the trap doors may be merelywire retainers 3| and 32 pivotally mounted, as in the case of the doors4 and 5 described above. Springs 33 are also provided to keep the wireretainers 3| and 32 closed. In this modification, the doors are openeddirect- 1y, no auxiliary manual means being provided therefor.

The structure of Fig. 8 is similar to that shown in Fig. 6 except thatthe doors or retainers are made of spring plates 4| and 42, and areprovided at their adjacent portions with semi-circular recesses M and42*, so that the struck ball may be engaged over a larger surface.

Though I have shown and described a particular construction,combination, and arrangement of parts and portions, and certainmodifications thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the same, butdesire to include in the scope of my invention the construction,combination, and arrangement substantially as set forth in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. In a golf club, a head having a ball receiving recess, a resilientlyclosing retaining means on the head for retaining a ball in the recess,a manually operated lever on the club, and pulley and cable meansconnecting the lever to the ball retaining means for opening the sameagainst the resiliently closing force of the retaining means when thelever is operated.

2. In a golf club, a head having a ball receiving recess, a resilientlyclosing retaining means on the head for retaining the ball in therecess, a manually operated lever on the club, pulley and cable meansconnecting the lever to the ball retaining means for opening the sameagainst the resiliently closing force of the retaining means when thelever is operated, and means for keeping taut the cables of the lattermeans.

3. In a golf club, a head having a ball receiving recess, a resilientlyclosing retaining means on the head for retaining a ball in the recess,a manually operated lever on the shaft of the club, and cablesconnecting the lever to the retaining means for opening the same.

In a golf club, a head having a ball receiving recess, a resilientlyclosing retaining means on the head for retaining a ball in the recess,a manually operated lever on the back of the head of the club, andcables connecting the lever to the retaining means for opening the same.

5. In a golf club, a head having a ball receiving recess open at itsfront side, a pair of doors, pivotally mounted intermediate its lateraledges, one at each of the opposite sides of the opening with the freeedge of one door adjacent the free edge of the other, the oppositelateral edge of each engaging the front of the head at the side of theopening as a stop, and springs normally closing the doors over theopening.

in. In a golf club, a head having a ball receiving recess open at itsfront side, a pair of doors, one pivotally mounted at each of theopposite sides of the opening, and extending into the recess at an angleto each other and to the front face of the head, and springs normallyholding said doors in said angular positions but allowing the same to beforced farther into the recess by a ball entering the recess.

'7. In a golf club, a head having a ball receiving recess, and meansmounted on the head and at the front of the recess thereof, said meansbeing mounted so as to be shifted into the recess of the head by a ballwhen the same is struck, for successively admitting the ball to therecess and retaining the same therein.

8. In a golf club, a head having a ball receiving recess, means on thehead for retaining a ball in the recess, said means being mounted so asto be shifted into the recess for admitting a ball thereinto, andresilient means for closing the retaining means over the recess.

9. In a golf club, a head having a ball receiving recess open at itsfront side, and a pair of doors, one pivotally and resiliently mountedat each of the opposite sides of the opening, and extending into therecess at an angle to each other and to the front face of the head, andso mounted as to be moved inwardly from said angle positions by a ballentering the recess.

10. In a golf club, a head having a ball receiving recess open at itsfront side, and a pair of retaining means on the head, one mounted ateach of the opposite sides of the opening, and so mounted as to be movedinto the recess for successively admitting a ball into the recess andretaining the same therein.

WILLIAM L. JONES.

